- Marcia Cross is a famous actress known for ‘Melrose Place’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’
- She welcomed twin daughters in 2007 at the age of 45
- The star publicly battled anal cancer and is in remission
Marcia Cross has had an incredible career in television, starting out in soap operas like The Edge of Night, Another World, and One Life to Live. After cutting her teeth on those daytime dramas, the Massachusetts native, born in 1962, landed the role of Dr. Kimberly Shaw on Melrose Place and became a household name.
However, Marcia wasn’t done grabbing hold of American audiences, as she then stepped into the role of Bree Van de Kamp on the insanely popular series Desperate Housewives. A few films and another hit series, Quantico, followed, cementing Marcia as one of the hardest working, and most recognizable, actresses on the small screen.
While still acting in hit after hit, Marcia took on another demanding, yet rewarding, role: mother. She welcomed twins at the age of 45! “I wanted to be a member of that club so badly, and now I’m in and it’s so much better than I even imagined,” Marcia told People of motherhood. “Even before I was 30 I started thinking about (motherhood). The years started going by and I was anxious about the clock ticking. Now it seems like it was all meant to be.”
Keep reading to learn more about Marcia’s daughters, Savannah and Eden, below.
The birth of Savannah & Eden
In 2004, Marcia spotted her future husband, stockbroker Tom Mahoney, in a Los Angeles flower store, left her number for him, they married in 2006 and the rest is history! “We did in vitro a week after we got married,” she told People. “We were supposed to go to Greece and Paris and have this fancy honeymoon, and I said, ‘Let’s stay put and see if we can’t give this baby a chance.”
And it worked out! The couple welcomed twin daughters Eden and Savannah in February 2007, one month before her March 21 due date. See photos of the babies on Marcia’s Instagram. The birth was a difficult one, however, as Marcia was diagnosed with preeclampsia hours before it, a disorder characterized by high blood pressure that threatens both mother and baby.
“Savannah was born first and then Eden followed within the same minute,” said Tom, who held the actress’ hand while she underwent a C-section, per the outlet. “Then we had a symphony of crying and it was fantastic.”
How they are different as twins
Although they are twins, Savannah and Eden are clearly their own people. “Though twins, they’re completely different! One of them recently started karate and watching her first tournament blew me away,” Marcia told People. “The other one is into dance. You have to be open to the different directions they take.”
Marcia also revealed that the girls handle situations differently. “Eden was talking to me one day, sounding like a teenager. Something was bothering her. Like any other mother, I was thinking, ‘How do I handle this?’” Marcia began her anecdote. “I said, ‘You know, I’m having the same problem with a person at my job. What do you think I should do?’”
“It was so cute because she said, ‘Well, you could take a deep breath, you could go have a snack, you could talk to your friends,’” explained Marcia. “By helping me, she was seeing what she could do for herself. It’s a little twisty thing I use to teach without always telling what to do.”
The two girls appeared to have inherited some traits from their famous mama, as well. “Recently both my daughters were sitting on the steps in our home, and one of them said, ‘Let’s talk about it mamma,’ ” recalled the actress to People in 2019. “I thought, where did they learn that? Then I realized it was from me. I thought, Oh my God, what have I done to them at 2 years old?”
Savannah & Eden during parents’ cancer scares
While she may have perfectly inhabited the role of picture-perfect Bree Van de Kamp on ‘Desperate Housewives,’ Marcia said it’s a different story at home IRL, as she admitted being a mother is not a walk in the park. “People are always really surprised because my character on the show seems perfect, she has it all together, and I’m the opposite,” Marcia told Scholastic’s Parent & Child magazine, per People. “I struggle like every other mother, and I’m constantly trying to figure out how to do it better or cut myself some slack when something’s not exactly right.”
One of the roadblocks was Marcia’s anal cancer diagnosis in 2017. As fans know, Tom also battled cancer attacking his throat in 2009. Both parents underwent intensive treatments to overcome the disease and are now in remission. The actress has made it a mission to spread awareness and use her platform to speak out on the issue.
“It is difficult to talk about but so important and we just need to push through,” she divulged to the outlet. “As I sat at my twin daughters’ graduation yesterday, I was so grateful to be alive and well and thought that if I could give that gift to another person it would all be worth it.”